79. (1) The owner of any imported goods shall make entry of such goods for home-consumption or warehousing or for any other approved purpose by delivering to the appropriate officer a bill of entry thereof in such form and manner and containing such particulars as the Board may direct:

Provided that, if the owner makes and subscribes a declaration before the appropriate officer to the effect that he is unable, for want of ¹[such information as is essential for submitting a bill of entry], then the said officer shall permit him, previous to the entry thereof, to examine the goods in the presence of an officer of Customs or to deposit such goods in a public warehouse appointed under section 12 without warehousing the same, pending the production of such information.

²[(1A) The Commissioner of Customs may within the period specified in sub-section (2) require the owner who has delivered or transmitted a bill of entry in electronic form to submit to the appropriate officer a paper bill of entry duly signed by the owner or his authorised agent, containing such information and documents as the said Commissioner may specify.]

³[(1B) A bill of entry under sub-section (1) shall be delivered within five working days since the arrival of goods:

Provided that the Board may, by notification in the official Gazette, extend such time upon stipulating such conditions or limitations as it deems fit and proper.]

⁴[(2) A bill of entry under sub-section (1) may be presented and the goods be cleared at any time within ⁵[thirty] days of the date of unloading thereof at a customs-port or a land customs-station or customs-inland container depot or ⁶[within twenty one days of] the date of unloading thereof at a customs-airport or within such extended period as the Commissioner of Customs may deem fit:

⁷[Provided that the Commissioner of Customs may permit a bill of entry to be presented even before the delivery of the manifest if the vessel or the aircraft by which the goods have been shipped for importation into Bangladesh is expected to arrive within thirty days from the date of such presentation.]]

(3) If the Commissioner of Customs is satisfied that the rate of customs-duty is not adversely affected and that there was no intention to defraud, he may in exceptional circumstances and for reasons to be recorded in writing permit substitution of a bill of entry for home-consumption for a bill of entry for warehousing or vice versa.